Some species are common to the point of being considered vermin while others are exceedingly rare. Many species are known from just a few specimens in museums collected in the 19th and 20th centuries. These enigmatic species include nocturnal small mammals such as the Malabar Civet (Viverra megaspila). While the status of many of these species is unknown, some are definitely extinct. Populations of many carnivores are threatened. The tiger (Panthera tigris), dhole (Cuon alpinus), Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), Malabar Large-spotted Civet (Viverra civettina) and Himalayan Wolf (Canis himalayensis) are some of the most endangered species of carnivore. Two species of Rhinoceros are extinct within the Indian region but the remaining species has its last stronghold within India. The Asiatic Cheetah is believed to have gone extinct.[citation needed]

^Tsewang Namgail, Sumanta Bagchi, Yash V. Bhatnagar and Rinchen Wangchuk (2005) Occurrence of the Tibetan Sand Fox Vulpes ferrilata Hodgson in Ladakh: A new record for the Indian subcontinent. JBNHS 102(2):217

^Choudhury, A.U. (2007). A new flying squirrel of the genus Petaurista Link from Arunachal Pradesh in north-east India. The NL & Journal of the Rhino Foundation for nat. in NE India 7: 26–34, plates.

^Choudhury, A.U. (2009). One more new flying squirrel of the genus Petaurista Link, 1795 from Arunachal Pradesh in north-east India. The NL & Journal of the Rhino Foundation for nat. in NE India 8: 26–34, plates.